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Charged Particle Motion in Earth's Magnetosphere

Regions of Earth's Magnetosphere

When dayside reconnection opens magnetic field lines at the magnetopause,
hot, subsonic solar wind plasma in the magnetosheath gains
direct access to the magnetosphere, producing the dayside cusp and plasma
mantle. As open field lines are dragged into the magnetotail, they
relinquish some of their hot solar wind plasma and fill with cool ionospheric
plasma, producing a low density mixed plasma in the magnetotail lobes.

Click on the terms along the left side ("Bow Shock", "Magnetopause",
etc.) to highlight those features of the magnetosphere in the image.

Upon magnetotail reconnection, earthward-bound closed field
lines compress the plasma forming the plasma sheet. Particle
energies in the plasma sheet increase through compression as the field lines
approach the Earth, and the energetic particles begin to drift around the Earth
(ions to the west and electrons to the east), forming the outer radiation
belt and extending the plasma sheet to the dayside magnetosphere.
The inner radiation belt, produced by cosmic rays, lies inside
the plasmasphere, which rotates with the Earth's atmosphere,
and does not take part in large-scale magnetospheric convection.

Altocumulus clouds are part of the Middle Cloud group (2000-7000m up). They are grayish-white with one part of the cloud darker than the other. Altocumulus clouds usually form in groups and are about...more

Altostratus belong to the Middle Cloud group (2000-7000m up). An altostratus cloud usually covers the whole sky and has a gray or blue-gray appearance. The sun or moon may shine through an altostratus...more

Cirrocumulus clouds belong to the High Cloud group (5000-13000m). They are small rounded puffs that usually appear in long rows. Cirrocumulus are usually white, but sometimes appear gray. Cirrocumulus...more

Cirrostratus clouds belong to the High Cloud (5000-13000m) group. They are sheetlike thin clouds that usually cover the entire sky. The sun or moon can shine through cirrostratus clouds . Sometimes, the...more

Cirrus clouds are the most common of the High Cloud (5000-13000m) group. They are composed entirely of ice and consist of long, thin, wispy streamers. They are commonly known as "mare's tails" because...more

Cumulonimbus clouds belong to the Clouds with Vertical Growth group. They are generally known as thunderstorm clouds. A cumulonimbus cloud can grow up to 10km high. At this height, high winds will flatten...more